James Cameron Almost Beat Harvey Weinstein With His Oscar Statuette After Defending Guillermo Del Toro
Director James Cameron and Harvey Weinstein nearly got into a fistfight in the middle of the 1998 Oscars ceremony. The Miramax head had a terrible reputation among filmmakers, but after more than 80 women came forward with sexual harassment allegations, his reign of terror finally came to an end. Cameron refused to put up with his predatory behavior years ago.
James Cameron won 11 Oscars for ‘Titanic’
Weinstein was recognized for his ability to boost a film’s chances during awards season, but Cameron didn’t need the help. He already made a name for himself with The Terminator franchise and 1986’s Aliens. However, Cameron wouldn’t make his first appearance at the Academy Awards as a nominee until Titanic hit theaters in 1997.
Titanic won 11 Oscars in addition to three nominations. It earned golden statuettes for Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Sound, Film Editing, Sound Effects Editing, Visual Effects, Original Song, and Original Dramatic Score. Meanwhile, it lost in the categories for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Actress in a Supporting Role, and Makeup. Nevertheless, Titanic went down in history for its historic night as a film that remains in the pop culture conversation.
James Cameron almost got into a fistfight with Harvey Weinstein at the Oscars
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron nearly got into a fistfight with Weinstein that would have ended with the Miramax head taking an Oscar statuette to the head. The director explained that he didn’t know anything about the film producer other than what he previously heard from Guillermo del Toro, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind The Shape of Water and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.
“Guillermo and I had been close friends since 1991,” Cameron said. “He had told me the horrible s*** that Miramax pulled on him when he made his first American commercial film, Mimic, and they fired him. The actors, led by Mira Sorvino, kind of revolted and wouldn’t work until they brought him back. Then, when the film was successful and well-regarded, Harvey sort of jumped up to take praise for the movie.”
Cameron then detailed a specific moment at the Academy Awards after he won his Oscar in the editing category. It started with an awkward exchange that turned into something much worse.
“And so I’m on my way back to my seat with my editing Oscar, and this guy’s jumping up to introduce himself, saying, ‘If you want to come to work at a place that’s a friend of the artist, a friend of the filmmaker’ — he’s holding his hand out, and I just blew him off,” Cameron said. “It was just an ugly little moment. But, yeah, I did defend Guillermo, and I called Harvey on his bulls***, and then he got very loud and verbally abusive and almost potentially physically violent.”
Cameron continued: “And he was about to get clocked by an Oscar — which would’ve been highly appropriate, I think. But I wasn’t thinking about it in those terms; it was just the weapon at hand. The hysterical thing about the whole moment was people around us were saying, ‘Not here! Not here!’ It was kind of like, ‘It’s OK if you boys fight out in the alley, but don’t do it here at the Academy Awards!'”
Guillermo del Toro ‘hated’ working with Harvey Weinstein
Del Toro himself once spoke about the incident working with Weinstein that Cameron spoke about. Indiewire wrote that The Shape of Water filmmaker mentioned how much he “hated” working with Weinstein while at the BFI London Film Festival in 2017.
“I really hated the experience,” del Toro said. “My first American experience was almost my last because it was with the Weinsteins and Miramax. I have got to tell you, two horrible things happened in the late 90s, my father was kidnapped, and I worked with the Weinsteins. I know which one was worse … the kidnapping made more sense, I knew what they wanted.”
Weinstein was known for his predatory behavior toward both filmmakers and women, which would later come to light. However, it’s always nice to know when Hollywood figures stood up against him.
How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.
